Tuesday, June 2

This dish is the essence of the outdoors, perfect for a patio brunch. Its colors are light and earthy and looks like you spent hours in the kitchen making it, but in reality it takes less than an hour! It has minimal ingredients and really displays the beauty of the asparagus. Fool your guests and enjoy this cheesy, crispy tart as an appetizer or side dish. I could only find thin asparagus at the market, but thick ones work just as well. Make sure to trim and wash them properly before cooking.

1 Preheat oven to 400 degrees.2 Thaw puff pastry as directed on box. Unfold pastry until flat and brush and score the dough with a sharp knife 1 inch from the border. Use a fork to prick at 1/2 inch intervals inside of the now scored border. Don't prick the border.3 Brush the inside of the border with olive oil, lemon juice, and minced shallot. Sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper.4 Pre-bake the puff pastry for 15 minutes.5 While the pastry is in the oven, wash and trim the asparagus. Pat dry.6 Remove the pastry from the oven and evenly sprinkle inside the border with Gruyere cheese.7 Arrange the asparagus, alternating tips and ends. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.8 Return the tart into the oven for 20-25 minutes until asparagus are roasted. Let cool, squeeze more lemon juice and serve.

This reminds me that there is a recipe contest at regionalbest.com to find an asparagus recipe that the President will like. (Winning recipes are submitted to the White House ex. chef.) Maybe you should submit this?!

I'm also stopping by to let you know about my new site: www.tastestopping.com I'm developing it to be a "catch-all" site for any "declined" submissions to the Big Food Photo Sites. I'd love to publish any of your photos that have not been accepted elsewhere.

While that site is under development, I'm hosting the whole thing at: www.tastestopping.wordpress.com. I hope you'll stop by, check it out and consider letting me publish some of your photos. Also, any feedback would be welcome and appreciated.

this looks and sounds delicious, asparagus season is nearly over in Rome and this would be a perfectly lovely goodbye for this year.I am very happy to have found you - I love your recipes (the braised leeks and hard boiled eggs below look right up my food street)off to ramble around in your archives